Tale of a Viking
by HarekSanders
Summary: The story of Yugi's parallel dimension counterpart, Luther Jacobs must unlock the secrets of the Nordic World, and save the modern world from olde magic at the same time.
1. Prologue: So Here's the Story

**Tale of a Viking**

**Ru-Fi-Oh**

Ok, this is going to be a bit confusing, but really cool…maybe. Let's lay it all down for you. First and foremost: This is a Yu-Gi-Oh Fan Fiction. Easy enough right? It takes place in the Battle City time period. Got it? Not that hard. Now here's the biggie: It takes place in a Parallel Universe. Confused? Let me explain. In this story, there is no Yugi, or his pharaoh counterpart. The reasons for both are 1) I like using OCs, and 2) Pharaohs are not part of Norse history. That's right, Norse. Now, don't get mad at me, but for this story, I've changed the whole Egyptian thing. Duel Monsters are now instead Norse based, or to a more fathomable term "Viking Based." Now I know maybe one of the first things on your mind is "Well, now you're going to have to change all of the cards accordingly." Which might be true, but I'm not going to, it makes things heckuva lot simpler for both me and you. I am, however, changing the origins of two aspects, and these are the Millennium Items, and the Egyptian God Cards. Obviously, I will be changing these to the Nordic Items, and the Norse God Cards. These things will come into play later on.

Another thing that is way different is the Characters. I have made some up and I have kept some and moved them around, and maybe changed their views/personalities a bit, but it all works out. Example of this in the story ((also acts as pre-intro)): Our Protagonist ((good-guy/main-guy)) is Luther Jacobs; he is backed up by three friends. Anthony Coram ((Tristan-type)), Rex Raptor ((Joey-type)), and Alicia Abbot ((Thea-type)). Ooh, this is going to be good P.

Just for reference, if you get confused:

Scandinavia, Norse, Nordic, and Northern Germanic are all the same thing…

Well, that's basically it for explanations, hope you enjoy the story

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**Prologue – So Here's the Story**

- A thousand years ago marks the time when "normal" life as we know it had started. Since before then, things were sure different. More than a thousand years ago marks the time when the Scandinavian people we know better as the "Vikings" ruled much of the northern hemisphere. As normal human beings who never experienced those times of the Vikings, stereotype them as the buff, bear-hide wearing, sword brandishing, pillaging and pilfering men searching for more land to inhabit. In truth, that is way off. This is only what history has written, and that's because history forgot what really happened. The lands of Scandinavia, which include Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, the Faeroe Islands, and some of Greenland, as we know them today, are in a quite alliance with each other. But it wasn't always like that. Wars were constantly waged over many issues, namely land, and were fought just how the history books say. The men fought with honor, and expectations to be seated in the great hall of Valhalla if killed bravely. The history books, however, hadn't mentioned that the wars were fought with monsters.

- The Scandinavian warriors were armed with many different monsters, traps, and magics at one time, and were sent into battle with such. The wars and their many battles had always turned out bloody and devastating. Some monsters were hard to control and would go on rampant rages killing anything it saw. Magic could always have gone wrong, and Traps could spring at any moment. Eventually, small alliances were made and things calmed down a bit, and finally, after yet another bloody war, one alliance decided they wanted to put an end to all of it. They had a lot of ideas and compromises that would end the whole "Duel Monster Wars" as it was called, but they needed to bring together all the leaders of all the Scandinavian Countries. It took a while, nearly a dozen years, but all of the 7 Leaders were eventually pulled together, using the magic that they could ((with the help of some expert wizards)) they created 7 mystical objects called "The Nordic Items" all of which had magical properties which they used to lock away all the monsters and magics, as well as the memories time had of the Scandinavian people. The items were then sent off to all different parts of the world, in the safe-keeping of unknowing owners. Now, a thousand years later, the memories time had lost were unveiled.

- A man by the name of Maximillian Pegasus discovered a ruin that held tablets of stone encrypted with Nordic Runes and pictures; he also discovered what he later learned as was "Odin's Right Eye." This "Nordic Eye," as it can also be called, gave him the power to read others' minds, trap souls, and most importantly, access the deceased memories of the Nordic People. With this knowledge, Pegasus invented a game called "Duel Monsters" in mock comparison to the wars that the Scandinavians had fought practically all their lives. Some modern touch-ups were made to attract interests, and soon, "Duel Monsters" was a very popular card game.

- Kids and adults alike had bought and played with these cards for the many months it had been released. Then, a man by the name Rex Raptor Senior saw a revolution in business. He had a decent sized research team, RexCorps, developing a new technology soon to be called "Solid Vision" which was a very advanced form of holography that could be "felt" to an extent. One day while watching some kids enjoying a game of Duel Monsters, he made the connection and thought, _What if Duel Monster players could actually **see** their monsters fight against one another?_ And thus, the revolutionized Duel Monsters was born. At first, the holograph version of Duel Monsters was only to be played in an Arena, using the primitive _Solid Vision 1.1_. But as both Duel Monsters and Solid Vision progressed, _Solid Vision 1.2_ was released, but only as a very rare prototype involving a spinning disk that was portable and could create holographs of Duel Monsters anywhere a player wished. But this was also too cumbersome, and through months of toying and experimenting, The _Solid Vision 1.2.2_ arm attachment field which was a lot more portable and was infused with better hologram technology than ever before. In celebration of this wonderful upheaval, Rex Raptor hosted a grand tournament which he called "Battle City" where players would use this new technology to battle one another in hopes of gaining entrance to the Battle City Quarter, Semi-, and lastly Finals. But there is more than meets the eye in this situation concerning Rex Raptor Senior, but more into that later.


	2. Chapter 1: Introduction and then some

That last one was painful wasn't it? Well, now we get into the story, so it's all good now, I hope. Now that you know the connection from the Nordic World to Duel Monsters here, we can glide smoothly along. Yay.

For future reference:

/Words withslashes Luther thought/-communicating with Domar

/_Italicized words withslashes_/ Domar doing the same

((Oops, forgot the disclaimer in the last one, well, transfer this one to last chapter ))

Disclaimer – I do not own any characters/themes from the show Yu-Gi-Oh.

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**Chapter One – Introductions and Then Some**

- Luther searched through the cards on display in his grandfather's shop. Deciding if anything worthy enough for his deck came in the last shipment. Luther Jacobs, a 13 year old with big brains, big guts, and big hair ((brown, curly, and frizzy)), lives in the upstairs apartment of his grandfather's game shop with said grandfather. For as long as he could remember, he had been playing games galore. From board games, to more importantly, card games. Once Duel Monsters hit the racks, Luther never left his deck out of his sight, carrying it around with him at all times. And after winning his first card tournament with this deck, his grandfather rewarded him with something fascinating that changed Luther's life forever.

- A strange pewter puzzle in the shape of a sphere and displaying a shield much like a family crest in the front. It was connected to a chain like a necklace and hung loosely below his chest when he wore it. But the strange part has yet to come, for once he placed the puzzle around his neck for the first time, he was never the same again. The soul of who Luther later learned to be the soul of the Norse King Domar inhabited the puzzle. He also learned later that the puzzle's name was Hamingja, but that's barely important. What's important is that King Domar became a part of Luther and was most spectacularly able to swap places with Luther when they wanted to swap places. This involved Luther's soul taking Domar's place in the puzzle while Domar took Luther's place in his body. The two are about to embark on a journey for lost memories and to what they will someday find out, the fate of the world as we know it.

- "Hey, Grandpa, how much would this Acrobat Monkey cost me?" Luther pointed to a card that lay beyond the glass display case in the "Machine" section of monster cards.

- In a sort of subtle surprise, Grandpa, who we can call Mr. Jacobs, replied, "That's just one dollar and thirty cents, but I can't imagine why you would want to by such a weak monster card." He walked over to the display case and started to unlock it.

- Luther smiled at him and said, "You never know when you'll need a card like that." Which was very true, in Duel Monsters, anything can happen, and even the weakest of all monsters can make that much of a difference.

- A voice chimed into the conversation from over near the Dragons/Dinosaurs section. "That card won't ever get past my Dinos I can tell ya' that much." This was the voice of Rex Raptor, Luther's best friend, son of Rex Raptor Senior, Mr. Raptor we'll call him to evade confusion, president of RexCorps ((get it? Sorta like LexCorps from Superman? ...n/m)), the developers and makers of _Solid Vision Holographs._

- Luther laughed and said, "You'd be surprised Rex, you never know what could happen." He pulled out some coins from his pocket and laid it on the glass counter as he fingered the card, examining it thoroughly, he always did this when he received new cards, so as to get more acquainted with the addition to his deck.

- "Seriously Luth," started Rex. "Luth" was his little nickname for Luther, and he was the only one who called him that. He continued, "You really think that pathetic little robot can withstand the attacks of my awesome reptilian power?" He leaned back over to scrutinize the cards for any useful ones he had missed before.

- Luther rolled his eyes. He knew that in an argument, Rex would never relinquish his opinion. "If you say so," Luther gave in, "But we won't know for sure until we test your hypothesis." He placed Acrobat Monkey in the leather deck pouch at his waist along with the other trust-worthy cards that helped him throughout the many battles he had waged before.

- Mr. Jacobs then locked up the glass cabinet and asked, "Find anything you like Rex?" Rex replied that he saw nothing he didn't have already or afford. He then turned to his grandson and asked, "So, Luther, I presume that you're going to enter the Battle City tournament Mr. Raptor is hosting?"

- Before Luther could answer, Rex stepped forward with his own reply. "Of course he is! How many tournaments has he won? You can beat this one for sure, that is, unless you can get past me!" He grinned and snickered. "And of course I'm entering; this _is_ my father's tournament after all."

- Luther hadn't really had a say in it. Rex had the annoying habit of volunteering him into things, whatever they may be. Luckily though, things have always turned out well in the end, so Luther always trusted Rex. "Yeah, I guess I could, I see no harm in it." He pulled his deck out of his pouch and sifted through it. He did this often, so as to make sure he never put cards in his deck he forgot about; he always wanted to be on top of things in his duels. "Explain to me the rules, and maybe I'll enter." He said to Rex.

- "Heh," came from Rex, "Alright, here's how it is." He started to explain. "You start off by registering and receiving your Duel Disk." After getting incredulous looks, Rex explained, "A Duel Disk is like the card field but strapped to your arm, ergo, it's portable." After receiving looks of acknowledge and approval, Rex continued. "As well as a Duel Disk, you also get a Locator Card; this is the key to your surviving Battle City. The Locator Card is what's on the line when battling someone in a duel. Two duelists, two Locator Cards, winner takes all. And…" He paused for dramatic effect, "And the rarest card in your opponent's deck." He induced a moment of silence for any reaction, and he got some.

- "Well, now, that doesn't seem fair." Mr. Jacobs said with a 'humph' of disapproval.

- Rex smiled and said, "But that only makes it that much more exciting." He paused for someone to ask "Why?" but didn't get it, so he just went on. "Think about it, by the time Quarterfinals arrive, you'll have 8 people with the strongest monsters from all the Battle City contestants, can we say that's gotta be one heckuva crazy battle." This time he didn't acquire any feedback, so he resumed explaining the rules. "The important thing here is, you lose all your Locator Cards, you lose your spot in the tournament. Though, you do get to keep the Duel Disks as consolation, they're pretty cool."

- Luther wavered on his decision for a little bit. "Well, I'd hate to put my rarest cards on the line when I'm dueling, the risk just seems to harsh." he singled out a couple of his rarer cards in his deck that he was leafing through.

- "Ahh, no sweat Luth, I'm sure you'll knock 'em dead." Rex reassured. Here he was again, volunteering Luther into things he didn't want to get into, but how could he resist his good buddy's hunch?

- "Alright, fine, I'll look into it, if it'll make you happy." Luther said with a grin. He glanced over at his grandfather, who shook his head, amused.

- "Sweet! Let's get going then! Today's the last day we can register." Rex grabbed Luther's arm and headed out the door dragging him along. "Bye grandpa, see you later!" Luther shouted. "Come back to the shop if you need anything!" Was the old man's reply.

- Minutes later, Rex was leading the way as they traveled through the city streets towards the Battle City sign-up area. This gave Luther some time to consult a really close friend of his, a _very_ close friend considering the friend was part of his own mind. /Did you get all of that Domar/ Luther asked his ancient Norse friend. /_I did/_ was the reply/_are you sure about entering this? What do you plan on gaining from this/_ Domar asked. Luther hadn't thought about this too much, actually, not at all until now. /I dunno. I've won plenty of tournaments before, maybe this will be the same./ He said. Domar's silence was a sign of disapproval to Luther. /Oh, come on, what's the worst that could happen? I'll lose a rare card, so what? It's not the end of the world; there are more cards out there./ Luther said trying to convince Domar. /_I'm not too sure. I have an ominous feeling about this./_ Said the thousand-year-old spirit. Luther rolled his eyes/You always have ominous feelings about everything, lighten up a bit why don'tchya/ He said to Domar. /_Alright, if you feel that this will turn out fine/_ Said Domar half-reluctantly. /I promise, it'll all be fun and games./ Said Luther when Rex finally announced their arrival.

- "Finally we're here, the Battle City Tournament Registration Desk." He said enthusiastically. He grabbed Luther's arm again and rushed him inside. Walking up to the desk first, he placed his deck on the table and said, I'm Rex Raptor, and I'm here to sign up for the Battle City Dueling Tournament!"

- The receptionist at the desk looked down at the purple and brown hair that poked from under the red hat which was the tell-tale head of Rex. "Oh Master Raptor, we've been expecting you. Please, allow me to register you into the festivities." Said the receptionist oh-so-politely. She placed the deck of cards on what looked to be a scanner. It shone brightly while it registered his deck into the data-base. "Rex Raptor Junior, contestant," The receptionist was saying as she typed the information into the computer by the scanner. "Rarest card…Black Tyranno." Luther smirked and nodded his head up for a better look at the card that was displayed on the screen. He most certainly knew what card the receptionist was talking about, for Rex had beaten even him with said card. He had the sudden urge to watch a battle performed by Rex; they were usually quite a spectacle. "Alright, here you are: A Duel Disk and a Locator Card. We hope to see you make it far in the tournament Master Raptor." Said the receptionist at last. After thanking the kind remark, Rex nudged Luther up to the desk.

- "Uh, Luther Jacobs, I'm here for the same reason." Luther said as he cautiously placed his most prized possession, his deck, on the counter before him. The receptionist merely smiled and took his deck and placed it on the same scanner Rex's deck had occupied before. "Alright then, Luther Jacobs, contestant," She repeated the same things as she had Rex, "Rarest card is…" The computer emitted a harsh beep and shone a red X where the rarest card usually appeared. The receptionist blinked and clicked a few buttons. After a couple seconds she said, "I'm sorry, it seems that you don't have rare enough cards to participate." Luther's jaw dropped. "What?" he said inquiringly. The lady explained, "In order to participate in the tournament, you must have a card in your deck that exceeds the 'Rare' status." Luther then realized what the problem was. He took out a card from his wallet; he always kept it there for safekeeping. He handed it to the receptionist and said, "Here, this might fix the problem." She took the card and placed it on the deck on the scanner. The computer then beeped satisfyingly and the receptionist said, "Oh, alright then, you're all set, here's your Duel Disk and Locator Card, and we at RexCorps hope you get far in the Tournament." She said with a smile. "Ok, thank you." Luther said, placing the Locator Card necklace around his neck and strapping on the Duel Disk.

- He turned to Rex, "Ready to go? Show me how a real Battle City Duelist plays the game." He said hyped up. "Alright!" Rex replied, "The battles should start soon! So let's get out there!" And with that, the two left the registration hall and out into the exciting world that was Battle City.

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Meanwhile…

- "Mr. Raptor, sir, I have just been informed that your son, Rex, and his friend Luther, has just entered the Tournament." Said a voice on the speaker phone. A man sitting in a large executive chair brought his hands together and smiled. "Excellent." He stated very cliché. "Now, we shall get the festivities started." A finger bearing a gold ring pressed the button that was labeled "Off" on the phone, and its owner reclined back into his chair.


	3. Chapter 2: Challenged! Part one

Sorry for the excruciatingly boring chapters. I can understand your pain, but these are story builders. Now we'll get into some real action, I promise.

Btw – I'm using 5,000 life points for battles, cuz 4,000 just doesn't cut it for me ((shrug)) And I hope the Duel Scenes will be easy to follow, I'll spell everything out for you, so you don't need to go looking up cards and their attacks, defenses, and effects

Changing some Keys:

((Normal Text with parenthases)) - Luther thinking to Domar

((**Bold Text with parenthases**)) - Domar thinking to Luther

Disclaimer – I do not own any Characters/Themes from "Yu-Gi-Oh!"

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- After relishing the moment for a bit, Rex Raptor Senior, owner of the RexCorps Corporation, developers of the hologram hardware _Solid Vision_, finally took action. He had been waiting quite a while for this moment, as did Loki. Finally, Raptor reached out, picked up the phone receiver, and with the same hand pressed the button that was labeled "P.A." and broadcasted the message…

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- "People and contestants of Battle City held here in the comfort of Domino City," Said a loud booming voice. Luther and Rex turned around, like most people did, to find the source, only to learn that it was coming from the P.A. system around the entire city. Rex nudged Luther saying very enthusiastically "That's my dad!" "I am pleased to announce," The voice continued, "the start of what I'm sure many of you have been anticipating for a week. Let it be known that the Battle City Tournament has now begun!" The P.A. system clicked off and there was a volley of cheers by many of the contestants and spectators who have been waiting for this moment all week.

- Luther, for one, was in a state of indifference, he still didn't know what to think about this whole tournament. Maybe once he got into the flow of things, he would feel differently. Even so, he was a little hesitant to get going. The fact that he could choose and challenge his opponents, instead of being put on a bracket, was overwhelming. He decided it would be best to hang back and watch things before he jumped in himself. He toyed with his Hamingja sphere puzzle as he considered what he was getting himself into. ((**Having second thoughts?**)) Domar asked half-amused. ((No, I'm fine, just getting the pre-tournament jitters that's all.)) Luther lied. ((**Well, if you ever need my help,**)) Domar said ((**remember, I have 65 years of dueling experience and 1,000 years wisdom.**))

- "C'mon Luth! Let's get going! I'm going to find my first opponent now!" Shouted Rex from down the sidewalk. Luther caught up with Rex who was searching the crowd, presumably for someone wearing a Duel Disk, and then realized something and asked Rex, "Um, Rex, how do these things work?" He lifted his arm to show the folded up mechanism on his arm. Rex smacked his head and said, "Oh yeah, I should probably teach you that shouldn't I? I'm not an expert on it myself, but one of my dad's employees showed me a little bit about it. Here," He grabbed the device to place it more comfortably in front of him ((not so comfortably for Luther though…)) "Okay, first when you wanna battle someone, you gotta press this button here." He pressed a button and the Duel Disk split apart into two wings ((this made Luther jump)). "And, your deck goes here," Rex pointed at a slot in the center of the disk. "These are where your Monsters go, and right underneath them, see those slots? You put your magic and trap cards there. See? Not that hard." Rex gave Luther his arm back and resumed looking for a worthy opponent.

- Luther examined the disk himself, noting other buttons, and predicting what they were used for. There was another slot though, just below the Deck slot, he didn't know what it did, so appropriately, he asked Rex. "Hey, Rex, what's this slot for here?" But before Rex had a time to answer, someone behind them said, "That's where cards you call back from the graveyard appear." The voice was raspy and dark-sounding. Appropriately so because its owner certainly seemed that way. When they turned around to greet the stranger, the first thing they noticed was how, for lack of a better term, dark he was. He wore long flowing black clothes which, despite the hot weather, had many layers. His wavy ebony hair crawled down to the middle of his back and contrasted amazingly with his paper-white face. As if knowing Luther and Rex's first question the person said, "I'm Blake, Blake Demitrus, and judging by the fact that you both have Locator Cards, I can assume that you are part of the Battle City Tournament."

- Rex turned around and said to Blake with a hint of arrogance, "Yeah? And what's it to you?" Stupid question. Blake laughed, "Well, seeing as I also have a Locator Card, I was hoping maybe a challenge would be it to me. Would either of you like to take my challenge?" Luther stepped back subtly, he would rather see Rex battle first. Luckily, Rex was one step ahead of Luther, literally. He rushed forward and said to Blake, "You, my friend, have just bought yourself a ticket to loserville." Another stupid phrase, but could you blame him? Blake laughed again, "That's right; get your hopes up, the bigger their egos, the harder it is for them to accept failure." Luther guessed that that was just an attempt at making 'The bigger they are, the harder they fall' sound cool, and a feeble attempt at that.

- Eager to get things started Rex said "Let's go," and walked out into the street. Blake followed him, a presumptuous grin on his visage. Before anyone knew it, the two combatants were facing each other, Duel Disks ready, Life Points displayed, cards drawn and battle-ready.

- "I've been dueling ever since Duel Monsters came out, and always with the top-notch equipment. My dad's Rex Raptor you know, owner of RexCorps." Rex said intimidatingly. Blake passed it off like it was nothing, "And you think _that_ is going to win you duels? Let's just get on with it and I'll show you what's really needed to be a supreme duelist. I'll give you the honor of making the first move in my presence." He said smoothly.

**Duelists – Life Points**

Rex Raptor – 5000

Blake Demitrus – 5000

- With a subtle growl, Rex drew his first card. After scrutinizing his hand for a second, he placed a card on the outstretched Duel Disk surface. "I'll start by Summoning my Uraby in Attack position. I'll also place a card face down on the field." As he did these things, right out on the street before him materialized holographic forms of a normal-looking Dinosaur and a face-down card behind it. Luther found it amazing what the _Solid Vision_ technology was capable of.

Uraby

Atk – 1500

Def – 800

- Blake's smirk neither faded nor twitched as he drew from his deck, examined his hand, and made his first move. "My first move isn't too difficult to follow. First, I will place a card face down," A card very similar to Rex's shimmered into view on Blake's side of the field, "and then I will summon Fear from the Dark in attack position." His monster came alive right before everyone's eyes ((spectators had started to gather around to watch)).

Fear from the Dark

Atk – 1700

Def – 1500

- "And I will attack your Uraby with the same monster. Go Fear from the Dark!" as the frightening, shadowy monster charged at the Dinosaur menacingly, Rex held up a hand and said, "Hold on!" He pressed something on his Duel Disk. Once he did this, the face down card he possessed flipped up on end for everyone to see. "I activate my Trap Card, Reinforcements. It adds 500 Attack power to whomever my opponent attacks." The smug look he had on his face moments before was now replaced with an expression of determination. _Nice move, t_hought Luther as men in armored suits started to climb out of the card. Blake simply laughed again, which was very discomforting. "Did you _really_ think that I was just going to ignore that face down card there? You foolish dueler, I thought since your father was head of RexCorps that you might know better than that." He mocked ((Rex growled again at this)). Laughing, he pressed his own Duel Disk to make his face-down card reveal itself. "Trap Jammer will most certainly take care of that." Sure enough, the yellow mist that Blake's Trap Card gave off seemed to do the trick as Rex's minute-men shattered into cybernetic pieces of worthless information. And with the obstructions gone, Fear from the Dark moved in for the kill and slashed Uraby to bits.

**Duelists – Life Points**

Rex Raptor – 4800

Blake Demitrus – 5000

- Luther winced at the sight of this. It's only been the first round of turns and already Rex isn't doing too well. But then again, if Luther knew Rex, a bad start can only lead to a good finish. Blake wasn't done though, "I'll set another card face down and I shall pass the baton to you." He said signaling his turn having ended.

- Rex, though having been caught off guard, disallowed himself to become disoriented and would come back at his opponent strong. "I will summon Hyper Hammerhead to the field in attack position, and I will also equip it with Invigoration, which adds 400 attack points to any Earth Monster."

Hyper Hammerhead

Atk – **1900**

Def – **1000**

((Invigoration))

- Luther's face brightened up to see his best friend get back in the swing of things. Now, Hyper Hammerhead had 1900 attack, instead of its original 1500, which could take out Fear from the Dark just fine. Luther anticipated a superb Battle Scene and waited for Rex to call the command. "Now, I will activate Fissure which destroys the monster with the lowest attack on your side of the field, seeing as all you have is Fear from the Dark, I guess that'll have to do." Rex grinned at his smooth-talking. As a holographic hole in the floor consumed the shadowy creature, Luther saw how using Fissure was a better move than attacking. Now, Hyper Hammerhead could attack Blake's Life Points directly. Another good move by Rex. As Fear from the Dark fell beneath the earth, both it and its owner still displayed the same smirk they shared. Why neither of them had looked disgruntled at the setback was beyond Luther, but he would soon find out.

- This time, Blake stifled his laugh, so as not to be redundant, but instead with merely a chuckle he said, "Well, that was a mistake on your part." He nodded his head towards Luther, still glaring at Rex but saying. "Hey you kid, watch carefully, because you'll see how that slot under the Deck is really used." Sure enough, a card that was presumably from the Graveyard poked out from the slot, and flipped onto the field. Then, to both Rex and Luther's great surprise a familiar hologram glimmered back to the field: Fear from the Dark. "What!" Both Luther and Rex said together, they were joined by some incredulous spectators watching from the sidelines. This time, Blake let his laugh roar through the street again. "Allow me to introduce you to Fear from the Dark's effect. Whenever you use a card's effect to send him from the field to the Graveyard, he is Special Summoned back to its original position." Rex had overlooked the fact that Fear from the Dark was an effect monster card. So it was now time to destroy it the old fashioned way. "Alright, have it your way." Rex said, "Hyper Hammerhead, destroy Fear from the Dark!" When he called this command, the dinosaur went straight into action, bashing the red shadow with its hammer-shaped noggin. The hologram once again disappeared from the field. "What do you have to say to that?" Asked Rex rhetorically, showing that his turn was done.

**Duelists – Life Points**

Rex Raptor – 4800

Blake Demitrus - 4800

- Blake's simper never evaporated from his face during all of this. And although Rex's question was meant to go unanswered, he replied anyways, "Just this:" He drew a card and commenced with his turn. "I activate my face down card Call of the Haunted. Another card that involves my retrieval of monsters from my Graveyard. Watch carefully Curly-Hair," He was referring to Luther, "No one besides me will show you the proper use of calling monsters from the grave." He laughed again as the card on the field flipped to show a foggy Graveyard. Once the card was visible the place where a monster had previously been started to shine, and from the glowing space appeared a too familiar monster, of course, it was none other than Fear from the Dark. Rex made an indescribable sound of frustration. Smirking maliciously, Blake said, "How does it feel not being able to destroy your opponent's monsters? Pretty rough I can imagine. Well, not to make it rougher, but I will now activate the card I just drew, Dark Energy." A spell card glistened onto the pavement playing field. "Just as your Invigoration, Dark Energy is also an Equip card, which adds 300 Attack and Defense to my Fiend Monster. In this case, it is most obviously Fear from the Dark."

Fear from the Dark

Atk – **2000**

Def – **1800**

((Dark Energy))

- "And I can assume that you know what I will do next." He pointed a finger at Rex's monster. "Fear from the Dark, destroy Hyper Hammerhead!" And in a flash, the prehistoric monster was wiped from the field.

**Duelists – Life Points**

Rex Raptor – 4700

Blake Demitrus – 4800

- Luther buried his hands in his face. _Oh boy,_ he thought to himself. He reviewed the field, just to make sure he knew what was going on. Rex's side of the field currently contained nothing, not too well. And Blake's side contained three cards, Dark Energy, which was upgrading Fear from the Dark, and Call of the Haunted, which kept Fear from the Dark alive. Luther grasped Hamingja, the spherical puzzle that held what was practically his other personality. He usually did this when he wanted help, or a little stroke of luck, he did this hoping to pass some of the luck onto Rex.

- After declaring that he placed down another face-down card, Blake had finished his turn. Rex was really starting to get sick of Fear from the Dark by this time, and he was determined to bring it down so he could get on with the duel without becoming emotionally unstable. He drew a card from his deck and knew immediately what he was going to do. Smiling at his luck, Rex placed a magic card on his Duel Disk. "I activate Cost Down, a useful card that downgrades the monster cards in my hand by two levels. This allows me to summon my Giga Gagagigo," he placed the Reptile monster on the field, "without having to tribute any monsters."

Giga Gagagigo

Atk – 2450

Def – 1500

- "I'll also place a card face down on the field, and end my turn." Rex's smile faded as he passed his turn over to Blake, who gave him a strange look. "What?" he said, "No attack? Your current status seems fit for one." His voice wavered a little, as though anticipating something to creep around a corner and say "Boo!" at him. "I have my reasons." Replied Rex. "Alright, suit yourself." Said Blake, trying to sound as if his composure had never changed. "And now, I will attack your monster." Puzzled remarks came from the crowd concerning this action. Rex took the question that ran through everyone's mind and recited it for all to hear. "Wait a minute; Fear from the Dark only has 2000 attack. It can't possibly destroy my Giga Gagagigo." "Not alone it can't," said Blake, "But with the help of a card you're familiar with it can." The trap card showed itself, revealing a card from which many armored men crawled from. "Say hello to Reinforcements, which adds 500 attack to Fear from the Dark!" Blake said rather loudly.

- It was now Rex's turn to laugh, and he did. Blake looked taken aback by this action. "What? What is it?" He asked nervously. Rex called his own Trap card to attention. "Mirror Force is what it is, which takes your monster's attack and rebounds it, destroying all Attack-position monsters on your side of the field." The long, dark garments on Blake's pale body lapped in a breeze that fluttered by, he stood there, confused. "But you know very well that a card like that cannot destroy Fear from the Dark for good! Why do you play that card?" His voice cracked. "That fact shouldn't bother me too much." Rex responded and watched as a series of events took place on the field. First, the force of Fear from the Dark's attack hit the mirror-like barrier between it and Giga Gagagigo, destroying it. Along with it went two cards, Call of the Haunted and Dark Energy. Following that, Fear from the Dark popped back out of the graveyard slot and onto the field. This caused Fear from the Dark to appear once again on the field, displaying a total of 1700 attack points. "What!" Shouted Blake, "What happened to my monster's power?" Rex laughed at the pitiful, incredulous voice of his opponent, and answered, "When Fear from the Dark was destroyed, its Equip card went with it. Then, by the card's effect, it was summoned back to the field without its power boost, nifty huh?"

- With nothing left to do, Blake ended his turn. Rex quickly drew a card and launched his next maneuver. "Alright then! First, I will summon Mammoth Graveyard to the field in defense position, and then I will activate a Spell card." Shoving the magic card into the slot, the card appeared on the field, the picture displayed a Pill, which jumped out and started to fuse with Giga Gagagigo. "I activate the card Ultra Evolution Pill. This card allows me to tribute a Reptile monster for a Dinosaur Monster in my hand, and the Dinosaur I choose is Dark Driceratops!" A loud roar filled the streets ((making some people jump, including Luther)) as the new monster appeared on the field. It was very colorful, very feathery, and very much not unlike a dinosaur. There were sure signs that Blake was impressed, but after recollecting his composure, he laughed. "This battle has only just begun; pretty soon you'll find out that you're not the only one with tricks up his sleeve." Rex nodded his head almost sarcastically, "I'll count on it." He said, "But for now, let's see how well you fare against my Dark Driceratops!"

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OOC – For the sake of brevity, I am going to have to continue this duel in the next chapter, I hadn't realized what I was getting into until I scrolled with the lil' scroll bar thingy and saw that I had 7 PAGES! O.O

So, tune in next time for the rest of Battle City Duel: Rex vs. Blake


	4. Chapter 3: Challenged! Part two

Welcome back! Finally, 4thChapter!Hope you're enjoying the story so far, and I also hope my battles are exciting, Of course, I can't possibly come up with the amazing strategies that are displayed on the show, but I try.

Sorry for any dialogue confusion in the last chapter , I'll try better this time; make it easier to read and such.

Post-written message - Erg, ending is a little weak, sorry about that, I was having some writers cramps, it's still good though.

Disclaimer – I disclaim any and all characters/themes from "Yu-Gi-Oh!"

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- "Mr. Raptor," said an advisory executive, "I'm sure you will be most pleased to know that your son, Rex, has started off the tournament by participating in the first battle in Battle City."

- "Most pleased indeed, thank you for the information." Replied Rex Raptor Senior. He spun around in his head executive chair and placed a deck of cards on his desk.

- The executive placed his hand on his chest, "Not to doubt your son's abilities, Mr. Raptor, but I wonder this: There are many top-notch duelers in the tournament, do you really think Rex will get that far? If not, we are always ready to induce a little bit of…" he searched for the right word, "no, 'tweaking' is too strong, we can _help_ him along the way if necessary."

- Mr. Raptor placed his gold-ringed hand on his deck of cards and said, "No, I am one-hundred percent certain that Rex can make it on his own, and cheating is no way to solve anything, I will not tolerate it." He ended the statement strongly, as if reprimanding his assistant. He continued after his advisor apologized, speaking in a negotiable tone, "However, if my son _does,_ in fact, start to flaw, some legal loopholes will be provided."

- The advisory executive smiled, somewhat wily, and answered, "Yes sir, I shall see through what you wish to happen."

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- When we last left our protagonist, second to Luther, he was in the midst of battling with a duelist who has the knack of bringing destroyed monsters back from the graveyard. Rex Raptor Junior, our 'good-guy', has on the field a very powerful monster known as Dark Driceratops as well as a Mammoth Graveyard monster. On the other hand, Blake Demitrus has but one monster, known as Fear from the Dark, which has the tendency to appear back into play when destroyed by the effect of a card. And for all you visual learners, here is a chart displaying the stats:

**Rex Raptor**

Life Points – 4700

Dark Driceratops, Attack Position

Atk 2400; Def 1500

Mammoth Graveyard, Defense Position

Atk 1200; Def 800

**Blake Demitrus**

Life Points – 4800

Fear from the Dark, Attack Position

Atk 1700; Def 1500

- It is currently Rex's battle phase, we will continue from here. "Brace yourself, Goth-boy, because you're about to experience one of the strongest monsters in my deck!" As if acknowledging this fact, Dark Driceratops thrashed its head and snapped its beak. After relishing this moment, Rex called out the command, "Go Dark Driceratops, destroy his Fear from the Dark once and for all!" But as the prehistoric bird charged at its opponent, Blake threw a card down onto the field.

- "Wait right there! I activate a magic card called Book of Moon. This card allows me to change the position of a monster on the field from attack to defense position, and I choose my own monster." Accordingly, Fear from the Dark assumed a position of defense, guarding Blake's life points, or so he thought.

- Rex grinned wildly, he said "And I'll guess that you thought changing Fear from the Dark to defense position would save you from loosing life points? Well think again!" Dark Driceratops continued its attack and tore Fear from the Dark to bits with its beak and talons. And although Fear from the Dark was in defense position, Blake took Life Point damage.

**Duelists** – Life Points

Rex Raptor – 4700

Blake Demitrus - 3900

- "What!" Blake shouted in disbelief. "That's impossible! How did I loose my Life Points?" His composure was failing again.

- Rex did not hesitate at all to explain what had happened. "It was my monster's effect that did the trick!" He said, "If Dark Driceratops attacks a monster that is in defense position the difference of his attack and the target's defense is subtracted from your Life Points! That means that there's no monster you can put on the field that'll protect your Life Points!" He said this last bit in triumph, as if he had already won the battle.

- With an angry finger, Blake pointed at Rex and said, "This isn't over, so you can stop acting like you've won just yet!" He then drew a card and continued with his turn. "I'll place one monster in face-down defense position and another face down card here, and I'll end my turn." The two cards appeared in their respective places.

- To Rex, the challenge was just getting easier and easier. He was almost disappointed that the only good strategy his opponent had was the Fear from the Dark thing, and that was gone already. _Oh well,_ he thought, _an easy win is still a victory._ "That's all you got? Alright." He drew a card, "There's not much to do besides my next step to finish you off. Dark Driceratops! Destroy that defense monster, of course, any monster makes him vulnerable anyways, defense position or not." He laughed as the bird once again lunged at the face-down card.

- "Not so fast," Blake shouted, "You activated my trap card Negate Attack! I'm sure you can figure out what that does, no? Well just for clarification, it cancels the attack of your monster completely."

- "Yeah, I know what it does, Goth-boy, you're just prolonging your demise in this tournament." Rex snapped back annoyed by the trap card.

- "Oh am I?" Blake said with a wild grin not unlike Rex's previous one. "We'll just see about that, are you quite finished yet? Then I will make my move." He drew a card and commenced his turn. "Are you ready, Mr. 'I have it in with RexCorps'?" He said mockingly, "This next turn might overwhelm your little head." He stifled another laugh, "First, I will sacrifice my monster to summon Vampire Lord." A vampire-like monster appeared on the field.

Vampire Lord

Atk – 2000; Def – 1500

- Rex cocked an eyebrow, "How is that going to help you? My Dark Driceratops has 2400 attack. Your monster has just 2000."

- "Patience is one's greatest virtue, wait and see. My next move will be to remove this same monster from play. Confused yet? Well maybe this will make things clear." The vampire dissolved from play and in its place something started to materialize. "I do this to Special Summon my greatest monster! Vampire Genesis, I summon you to the field!" In place of the white-haired, purple-skinned vampire that previously stood in front of Blake appeared a humongous brute of a monster. It was had muscles of what looked like purple stone, large wings that caused a great wind to kick up when they flapped, and red eyes that seemed bright and dark at the same time. It was most definitely a frightening monster.

Vampire Genesis

Atk – 3000; Def – 2100

- "But that's not all, for I also activate the magic card Dimension Fusion. This card, with my spending of 1000 Life Points, allows both of us to Special Summon as many monsters removed from play back to the field, and since all I have there is Vampire Lord, that'll have to do." The white hair and purple skin reappeared next to the monstrosity. "And due to my Vampire Genesis's effect, I can discard a Zombie-type monster from my hand in order to Special Summon yet another Zombie monster to the field from my Graveyard. In this case, I will discard my practically useless Vampire Lady in return for re-summoning, brace yourself, Fear from the Dark!" As if Rex hadn't seen enough of the thing, the red-ish shadow monster appeared on the field yet again. Rex groaned and brought his fist to his forehead in frustration. Blake still, though, wasn't done with his turn. "And I shall finish my turn, right after I destroy your precious Dark Driceratops! Go Vampire Genesis!" And sure enough, the brute slashed through Rex's seemingly unstoppable pre-historic monster.

**Duelists** – Life Points

Rex Raptor – 4100

Blake Demitrus – 2900

- "So tell me," Blake said, hypocritically as smug as Rex was just moments before. "How, do you say, are you going to get past my defenses now?" It was a rhetorical question, and he had yet to really finish his turn. "Not only that, but I will also attack your defense position monster with my Vampire Lord." No sooner had he said this, Mammoth Graveyard dissipated from the field. That left Rex completely vulnerable, and it was no big idea to what Blake was going to do next. "And finally, I'll send Fear from the Dark to attack your Life Points directly!" The red shadowy figure glided forward and slashed at Rex, sending him staggering backwards and falling down.

**Duelists** – Life Points

Rex Raptor – 2400

Blake Demitrus – 2900

- Rex slowly rose back to his feet, wiping his butt clean and clutching the arm that he fell on. There was no conversation this time; there was no bitter language, just Rex playing his turn. "I will summon another Uraby to the field in Defense position."

Uraby

Atk – 1500; Def – 800

- "And I will also play this card," He called a magic card onto the field. "It's called The Dark Door, and as long as it stays on the field, neither of us can attack with more than one monster during our turns. And I will end my turn." That was all he said.

- Blake, on the other hand, was talking up a storm, as if certain of his victory and gloating about it already. "So the tables have turned; now you seem to be the one prolonging his failure in Battle City, no?" He drew a card. "This turn will be disappointingly bland." He said frowning at the card he just drew. "Vampire Genesis, destroy Uraby!" And it was done. "Your turn, you'll need a miracle card to pop up right now." He said with a sneer.

- Just then, Luther Jacobs, who was watching from the sidelines, saw something that no one else could. The puzzle-necklace that was slung around his neck started to glow. This was a sign that the spirit that resided inside of it, Domar, and ancient Scandinavian king wanted to take control of Luther's embodiment. ((What is it?)) Luther asked the soul inside his mind. The deep voice of Domar replied, ((**I want to speak with Rex**)). ((Well…if you insist)). Luther said and did something else that also went unnoticed by others. What he did was closed his eyes and yelled rather loudly "Ru-Fi-Oh!" How this act wasn't seen by the people around him was the mysterious doings of the ancient Norse Magic that was fused with the puzzle. Domar then began to talk to his comrade.

- When Domar spoke, his voice was deep and full, much different than the voice of Luther Jacobs. Nobody, though, seemed to bother this either, most likely due to the magic. He said to Rex, "Rex, listen to me." Once their eyes locked, he asked the duelist, "Do you believe in your deck?"

- Rex was taken aback by the strange question. "Uh…what do you mean? I guess I sorta believe in my deck, why?"

- "The power behind your deck doesn't lie within the cards, but rather, it resides in your heart." He told Rex, his deep voice rising above the murmur of the crowd effortlessly. "If you believe in your deck then it will supply you with what you need to win this duel."

- Rex had never heard of things like this before. He had always thought that Duel Monsters was just a card game, yet Luther was trying to tell him that it involves his heart? He knew what cards were in his deck, and he knew what cards he needed at certain points, but was what Luther was telling him worth believing?

- Blake was getting restless, "What are you doing? Getting pep talks from your coach near the end of the duel? Let's get this over with." He said commandingly.

- Rex looked at his hand. He focused in on the three cards that would help him, De-spell, Double Spell, and Tyranno Infinity. He would also need to use the Pot of Greed he also held but not for what one would think. But there was still one thing missing, a card in his deck. Did he believe in his deck? Why wouldn't you believe in your deck? Rex placed his fingers on the top card of his deck and did something he never did before. Prior to drawing a card, he envisioned the card he needed in his head. The image was very vivid and he attempted to shove the vision in his mind through his arm and hand and into the card he was touching. After sending all his energy into that top card, he knew it, he was confident in his deck. It was a strange feeling, and very hard to describe, but he felt closer to his deck than ever before. And when he drew the card, he didn't have to even look at it to know what it was. He looked at it anyways and smiled. "Alright! Let's do this!"

- "My first move will be to activate this magic card!" The magic card De-Spell appeared on the field.

- Blake had something to say about this. "What? But I don't even have a magic card on the field." For De-Spell was a card that de-activated a spell card.

- "I know that," replied Rex, "But _I_ do." He pointed to The Dark Door. "Confused? Don't worry, it'll all work out in the end, well…for me that is." The Dark Door was destroyed. "Alright, now I will summon a monster, a very powerful monster, if you can play it right. Meet Tyranno Infinity." A generally normal-looking Dinosaur materialized onto the field; generally normal-looking aside from the fact that it was shimmering with some strange energy.

Tyranno Infinity

Atk – 0; Def – 0

- Blake looked as confused as ever. "That thing? Powerful! It has 0 attack points! How can that possibly be used to defeat me?" He said incredulously.

- "Like this." Rex said, revealing to Blake the card he just drew, Soul Release. "This card, Soul Release, allows me remove from play 5 cards from either of our graveyards. In this case I will send the 5 Dinosaur monsters in my graveyard from play." This happened in a matter of seconds. And just as this happened, Tyranno Infinity started to glow even more and seemed to grow. But that wasn't the important part, for its attack power grew as well, increasing by 5000 points!

Tyranno Infinity

Atk – 5000; Def – 0

- "Let me explain," Rex said to Blake's dropped jaw. "Tyranno Infinity's special ability raises its attack power by 1000 points for each Dinosaur monster that's removed from play, in this case there is 5, so 5000 points for my Dino friend here. But, unfortunately, it won't be like that for long, because I'm not done with those monsters removed from play." He activated another magic card. "My next move will be to use Double Spell, which, when I discard a magic card from my hand, in this case, Pot of Greed, I can use a magic card that's in your graveyard. And the magic card I pick is Dimension Fusion. And of course, you know what that does, for 1000 Life Points I can special summon a monster from out of play onto the field. And I will choose Dark Driceratops!" For Rex, seeing his multi-colored bird-dinosaur was a sight for sore eyes. For Blake, it was a living nightmare. "Tyranno Infinity looses 1000 attack points, yes, but I think it's worth having Dark Driceratops on the field. Don'tchya think?" The two dinosaurs were indeed terrifying in the middle of the street as they were, especially for Blake. Rex was still not done. "And since The Dark Door has been destroyed, I think I can attack with both of my monsters now, and I will." He pointed at the brute on Blake's side of the field. "Tyranno Infinity! Destroy Vampire Genesis now! And Dark Driceratops, Fear from the Dark is yours!" The two ancient creatures darted at their opponents. The shadows from the two images enveloped Blake as his two monsters were destroyed.

**Duelists** – Life Points

Rex Raptor – 1400

Blake Demitrus – 1200

- "HA!" Rex blurted out at the disbelieving face of his opponent. Apparently, Blake had never thought to ever have seen his most powerful monster fall before him. "But that's not all." Rex said. He still had one card in his hand, and it was apparent he was going to use it. He twirled it around in his fingers to show Blake. "I'm just going to use a card that every self-proclaimed duelist should have in their deck. A little friend I like to call Monster Reborn. And I'll use it to call back Vampire Genesis, but on my side of the field!" The brute appeared amongst the other brutes on Rex's side.

- Blake's eyes widened with horror. "NO!" He screamed, and practically instantly he placed his right hand on his deck, a signal of forfeit in the game of Duel Monsters. All of the holograms disappeared and faded away at once. Blake fell to his knees, breathing hard. He started to speak with forceful breaths. "I…will…NEVER…allow my own monster…to defeat me in battle!" He said.

- Rex walked over to him. The victory smile faded from his cheeks, some of the bystanders started to walk away. Blake was clutching his black clothing tightly. Rex spoke up. "Hey man, I'm sorry for offending you…" There was a long pause.

- Blake finally shook his head and got back up. "No, I'm sorry," He said, breathing regularly now, "It's just…" Pause, "It's just no one's ever battled me that way before, using my own cards against me, I mean. It came as a shock." He ripped the Locator Card from his neck, and held it out to Rex. "Here, this is yours. And, this." He took a card out from his deck and shoved it into Rex's hands, it was Vampire Genesis. "But you can't use it without this." He gave up Vampire Lord too.

- Rex attempted to give the second card back. "But you don't need to give this to me; you only need to give me your rarest." He assured.

- Blake declined the card. "No, you need it, and don't think I'm doing this cuz I'm nice or anything, I just don't want to see the person who beat me in the first round be defeated later on, that's just embarrassing." He popped his long black collar and started to walk away, the last thing he said was "See you around." Until he was out of sight. Unknowingly to Rex and Luther, this wouldn't be the last time they saw Blake…

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- "Sir," said the familiar voice of the advisory executive. "I am very happy to tell you that Rex won his fist battle, I'm sure you are very proud of him."

- Mr. Raptor nodded in agreement, "Proud." He said acknowledging the adjective. "But I will only be truly proud of my son when he gets past the eliminatory rounds, and I can guarantee you that it won't happen the way he battled just moments ago."

- The executive inquired his boss, "Would you like me to send out the hunters?" He asked.

- "No, not yet," Raptor said, "Wait until the weak are weeded out first, then we will strike the attacks."

- The executive nodded, "Very well sir, tell me when and I shall see it done." He said and went back to bossing people around.


	5. Overview: Characters and Artifacts

Firstly – Sorry for the long wait: A couple of things happened to me, I got extremely busy with school and band and a lot of other stuff like overnight one day so I didn't have much time to write, that and I got a really bad writer's block Like, a really bad one I couldn't write ANYTHING it was so annoying. But now I'm back and I got over my writer's block thankfully, so…enjoy!

Hey all, this isn't a chapter here, go to the next chapter if you want to read the story, all this stuff here is practically unimportant. But the topic came to me from a review ((From Amarie Miriel)). This right here, is going to be an overview of all the things I changed to Norse, well, almost all, I'm still getting some together.

I'll probably also analyze the characters we've encountered so far in here.

Yeah, Amarie, thanks for the suggestion, but I'm 10 steps ahead of you, I am extremely interested in Scandinavian Mythology, and I had already gone ahead and replaced most of the Millennium Items with Norse figures. **:Happy Face:**

So, here goes…

Disclaimer – I disclaim any and all themes/characters from "Yu-Gi-Oh!"

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**Hamingja**

((Millennium Puzzle))

Owner – Luther Jacobs

Hamingja is the replacement of Yugi's Puzzle. The differences between the two are as follows: The puzzle is orb, or, sphere shaped, instead of the pyramid shape. Also, it is Pewter, not Gold. Instead of the Egyptian Eye on the front, there is a Norse depicted symbol for the eye of Odin. It obviously does not contain the spirit of "The Pharaoh," rather, it contains the soul of a Scandinavian King called Domar. Domar was characterized by the plentiful crops and wealth that came about during his reign. _Hamingja_ is actually the Norse word meaning "Luck, or Success"

**Mjolnir** – ((Mh-jole-neer))

((Millennium Rod))

Owner – Rex Raptor Senior

It is most likely not common knowledge that Thor's Hammer is actually named Mjolnir. Well, it is. Some of you may even recognize this word as what the Spartans' armour was called in the "Halo" video game series, and if you look through it enough, you'll also find that there are many other Norse references in the games. So, the difference here is that instead of this artifact looking like an axe ((which it kinda does in the show and such)) it looks more like a large mallet. Kept inside the hammer is the soul of Loki, who is in Norse Mythology the God of discord and mischief. He is also considered to personify evil in Scandinavian religion. Mjolnir is made with the same kind of Pewter as Hamingja, as does all the other artifacts, except the next artifact.

**Drapnir** – ((Drap-neer))

((Millennium Ring))

Owner – Weevil Underwood

Okay, probably the first thing on your mind "What! Weevil with the Millennium Ring? Preposterous!" this is cuz I enjoy changing characters around. That's basically it. Drapnir is, instead of that necklace-ring thing Bokura has, it is an Armband. In Norse Mythology, Draupnir was actually the Armband of Odin. This is the only gold item in all the Norse Items ((I think, it is liable to change)). The difference with this, there's none of that fancy dangly stuff on it, just the eye of Odin to show that it's one of the artifacts.

**Giallar Horn**

((Millennium Key))

Owner – N/A

Yeah, I know, "How did I get a horn from a key?" Well, firstly, it's a horn like a musical horn thing, yeah. Secondly, it's the horn of my favorite of the Norse Gods, Heimdall, the watcher of the gods. So, the difference lies in the physical appearance, instead of a key, it is like a horn you would see from like LOTR or something, one of those horns made from a real horn and stuff…yeah. And it's Pewter.

**Odin's Right Eye**

((Millennium Eye))

Owner – Maximillian Pegasus

Yeah, Pegasus still has it, I think he deserves it, as long as he uses it responsibly ((which is hard, I think)). He hasn't done anything horrible with it anyways…yet. In my story, there was no Duelist Island or anything, not yet at least. Differences, well, it doesn't look like the Egyptian Eye, I can tell you that much, it looks like the Norse depicted Odin's Eye, I'm not too sure what that looks like, but, use your imagination. It's Pewter.

-----!

Well, that's all I got for that right now, and now I think I'm going to go into the character stuff, yeah I will.

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**Luther Jacobs**

I've used Luther in plenty of stories before; he's my current favorite name for my characters. As for past favorites, I often used Harek Longbow, and I also used Blake Kinlion ((Kin-lee-un)) for quite a while. But I got bored with those and decided to ironically use a name that was more "Normal." Luther, as you might have already figured out, replaces Yugi in the show/manga, whatever you're interested in. Not much to say here, he's supposed to have the semi-same personality as Yugi, but it's hard.

**Rex Raptor Jr.**

Yay, Rex Raptor! He's my favorite amongst the characters from the show ((along with Weevil, they make the greatest team)). In the story, he takes the place of Joey Wheeler, who is the proactive, offensive guy. He rawks, in short.

**Rex Raptor Sr.**

Ok, here's where things get confusing. So, we have Mr. Rex Raptor, owner of RexCorps, the developers of _SolidVision_ hologram technology. Ergo, one could assume that he takes the place of Kaiba. Upon closer inspection though, we can also figure out that he is kinda the substitute for Marik thing. Yeah, he's like Kaiba, Marik, and Pegasus all in one, crazy huh? Well, I think this brings a whole new spin on the story and I enjoy the concept profoundly. I say this because 1) He owns RexCorps, like Kaiba, 2) He has an evil influence, like Marik, 3) He is like the boss, "the big man," like Pegasus was.

Just to add to the confusion, I haven't really figured out the entire personality of Rex Raptor Senior yet. I think I'm leaning towards him being good-hearted deep down, but is highly intrigued by the idea of power and the fact that Loki is influencing his ideas too greatly that his is being unwillingly evil. I guess what I'm trying to say is, Loki is promising him power, but only has evil ways for him to gain the power. See? I haven't really figured it all out yet, but you'll see later on that Raptor really is kind of nice…ish…I'm so weird and confused P.

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That's practically all you need to know for now, another overview might come in to play later. So…let's get back to the story!

((Proceed to next chapter))


	6. Chapter 4: Future Opponent

Once again, I am terribly sorry for the long wait, I was really tied up in things, check the overview. You'll see towards the end where my writer's block kicked in, or maybe you won't, I dunno, anyways, I was generally pleased with the outcome of this chapter, even though I had a little bit of trouble getting it done. Plus it's finally here! Yay! I hope you enjoy it.

Finally, let's get Chapter 4 going!

Disclaimer – I disclaim any and all Themes/Characters from "Yu-Gi-Oh!"

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- Rex had not stopped talking about the duel to Luther, who had since acquired his own body back. He was having a grand old time recounting the excellent moves he made, barely mentioning the swell ones Blake played (Luther had to keep calling up those times in efforts to keep Rex's ego in check). Rex though, hadn't left out any details concerning his hand and his thoughts at certain points. Luther sighed, this behavior was typical of his friend, and he couldn't help but laugh on the inside at the stereotype he was making.

- "I don't know how many times I have to say this for you to believe me but I _am_ impressed with you, Rex, you can trust me on this one." Luther said taking a gander at the two valuable-looking Locator Cards slung around Rex's neck. He longed to collect another one of his own after seeing last battle's spectacular display. Although he was wary about battling at first, his confidence had risen after Rex's victory and he was now itching to battle. Domar, on the other hand, stayed on the cautious side of the situation and tried to talk Luther into taking a "more sensible" approach to the tournament.

- ((**Now Luther, let's not jump into things too quickly, maybe we should do some more observing.**)) Domar suggested. ((Aw, I've done enough observing. Rex's battle was study enough for anyone to know what's going on.)) Luther protested. ((**Luther, are you here to win? Or to loose it in the first battle?**)) Domar asked rhetorically. Seeing as the spirit had more than a plethora of wisdom, Luther could do nothing but oblige. ((Fine, we'll watch one more battle, but as soon as that's over I'm battling alright?)) Luther said to his counter-personality. ((**Well, it seems that I cannot persuade you out of that, so be it.**)) Domar agreed to finally.

- "So is it your turn yet?" Rex asked Luther, his voice growing excited.

- Luther shrugged, taking Domar's advice he said, "Well, I think I could use a little more watching before I get started, I don't think I've really found the feel for things yet." He looked away, noticing a couple duel disks amongst the crowds of people.

- Rex wasn't too keen of this idea. "Aw, come on Luth, duel watching is for people who can't duel themselves. What you need to do is get into some action." There was a noise coming from around the corner. Judging the other-worldliness of the sound, it was presumably a noise of a Duel Monsters confrontation. Rex's ears perked up, "And it looks like there's some action you can get!" he said and grabbed Luther's arm. Luther could barely get out a "Hey!" before they were already around the corner and peering through the throngs of people that were crowded around a duel that was taking place. The holographic displays above the combatants showed the progress of the match.

**Life Points**

Jerome Kearny – 2100

Noah Bostlovitz – 800

- Jerome was a heavy-set kid looking to be 15-16 years old, just around the same age as Luther. He seemed to be in command of the duel; he had the most life points as well as the stronger monster. Jerome had on the field a Dark Magician, a well known monster with 2500 attack points. Contrastingly, his opponent, Noah, who was generally skinny and seemed to be around 18 years old,had a whole 5 monsters on the field plus a face-down card. It was apparent, though, that Jerome was about to win, because none of Noah's monsters could stand a chance against the might of Dark Magician.

- It was Jerome's turn who started out by taunting Noah. "Can't you see you're done for? You should have quit while you had the chance. Once my Dark Magician destroys your Overdrive, you're finished." Noah said nothing. "Alright then, I'll send my Dark Magician to destroy Overdrive! Attack with Dark Magic Annihilation!" He yelled out to his monster, which immediately sprang to action, lunging forward at the Recon Unit, staff extended.

- "I'm sorry, but that's impossible, you cannot attack my monster." Noah said, expressionless. Before Jerome could interject with any phrases of disbelief, Noah held up a hand and his face down card was activated. "Because my face down trap card is Amorphous Barrier, which, if I have three or more monsters on my side of the field, negates your attack. Nifty eh?"

- Jerome wasn't too happy about this, but nevertheless he was content. "No matter," He said, "I'll just crush you on my next turn." He smirked and crossed his arms.

- "You think so eh?" Said Noah, drawing a useless card. "First, I will sacrifice my face-down monster to keep my Amazon Warrior out on the field." The card disappeared in a small explosion. "Now I go onward to my battle phase and attack your Dark Magician with one of my Slate Warriors." Immediately, the combatant sprung into action.

- Jerome laughed heartily, "What do you plan on accomplishing with that? Your Slate Warrior is toast; my Dark Magician has more than enough attack points to trounce your puny monster." And sure enough, Dark Magician put a new meaning to the phrase "A good defense is a good offense" and destroyed Slate Warrior. Noah took resulting damage.

**Life Points**

Jerome Kearny – 2100

Noah Bostlovitz – 200

- "Going suicidal on me are you now?" Asked Jerome, "You know you could always just surrender instead of beating yourself to no life points."

- Noah didn't look fazed at all. On the contrary, he looked quite pleased with himself. "That's not what I'm doing." He said, "Watch and you'll see." A display popped up, showing Dark Magician's attack power, it dropped to 2000.

- Jerome stepped back in shock, "What happened to my monster's attack?" He asked, just like any other person would.

- "Allow me to introduce to you Slate Warrior's special ability. Whenever a monster destroys him in battle, that same monster looses 500 attack points for the rest of the time it's on the field." He fiddled around with the cards in his hand. "But that's not all; I will do the same thing with my other Slate Warrior." It happened and there were the same results. Dark Magician's attack was decreased to 1500 and Noah took damage.

**Life Points**

Jerome Kearny – 2100

Noah Bostlovitz – 100

- "Well then, I think you can figure out the next chain of events, but unless your feeble mind can't handle it, I'll spell it out for you." He pointed at the purple-clad sage on Jerome's side of the field, "Overdrive take Dark Magician out!" and without missing a beat, the armed jeep took off, ramming into its opponent, which disintegrated instantly.

**Life Points**

Jerome Kearny – 2000

Noah Bostlovitz – 100

- "And for the coup de grace, Amazon Warrior, with 2000 attack points, finish him off!" The Amazon took off and slashed at Jerome, who was so shocked he didn't even flinch as the holographic spear sliced through him and knocked away the rest of his life points. He dropped to his knees and sulked. Applause boomed around the street as Noah Bostlovitz, who won by a hair, raised his hands in triumph. The crowd then casually died away and went about their usual business while Noah and Jerome exchanged dialogue and Locator Cards. Jerome, now knocked out of the Tournament and without his rarest card, sulked off down the people-filled sidewalk.

- Luther stole the moment Noah took, absorbing the scene, to approach him. Rex followed close behind. Luther caught up to his future opponent just as he started to turn away. Clapping a hand on his shoulder, Luther said, "Hey wait up, that was a great battle, congratulations by the way."

- Noah turned around and smiled at the compliment. "Why, thank you, it wasn't that big of a win though." He shrugged and started on his way again.

- "Wait up!" Luther said and walked in front of him. He cursed himself for being a bit rude. "I'm Luther Jacobs and I'm part of the tournament as well." He extended a hand.

- "So?" Noah said and brushed past Luther coldly as if he were just an insignificant person on the street. Luther no longer felt sorry for seeming rude before.

- "So, I was just about to challenge you, I like your battle style and I want to know how I stand up against you." Luther called, narrowing his eyes at the pompous duelist. "Do we have a problem?" He said, his voice hinting some anger.

- "If you're looking for a duel against me, then yes there's a problem." Answered Noah, not turning back, leaving Luther to catch up with him. "I haven't the time to waste battling you right now." Luther started to protest but couldn't formulate a comeback, Noah continued. "Show me that you are worthy of giving me a challenge, and I'll consider your offer."

- "Worthy?" Luther said incredulously. _The nerve of this guy!_ "I must show myself 'worthy' before I battle you?"

- "That's the way I see it." Said Noah coolly.

- "Well, what am I supposed to do to gain this 'worthiness'?" Luther said now apparently angry.

- Noah still refrained from turning and simply said, "You're the one who wants to battle me, you figure that out." And he continued his way through the crowded streets, eventually becoming invisible amongst the passersby.

- Luther stopped in his tracks, his fist clenching and his brow frowning. "I'll show _him_ 'worthy'" Luther said to no one in particular.

- Rex who had amazingly failed to butt in to Luther and Noah's conversation tried to get Luther to forget the whole thing. "Don't worry about it Luth, there's plenty of other duelists out there. Besides, that guy's probably going to loose it soon anyways, I'll bet he gets knocked out his next battle."

- "No," Said Luther, "He'll stay in, and I'm going to battle him." Rex questioned Luther's reason for this. "I just need to battle him alright?" Luther replied, "Come on, you're right, there are other duelists, and it's about time I dueled."

- "That's the spirit," Rex said happily, "Now let's go find you an opponent." He clasped a hand around Luther's shoulder and escorted him down the street.

- Domar's voice rang through Luther's head, though it seemed to be emanating from Hamingja, the ancient Norse Puzzle that was slung around Luther's neck. ((**Maybe it was for the better, Luther. That Noah character did seem rather tough, perhaps you would have lost right there.**)) He predicted. ((Domar,)) Luther said shaking his head. ((**What is it Luther?**)) Domar asked. Luther grinned, ((Shut up.))

-----!

- Rex Raptor Senior sat in his expensive head-executive swiveling chair looking out the large window of his office, polishing Mjolnir. Down the street, a battle was finishing up. It was nothing special, just a couple of weaklings displaying how weak each other were. Raptor hated this part of tournaments; the only action that was taking place was the same boring softies pointlessly battling it out.

- Just then his office door opened. It was the same advisory executive as the countless times before. Also, his own assistant followed behind, insignificantly standing there as if waiting to be given an order by his boss. "Mr. Raptor," said the executive, "You called me here?" He said with an inquiring tone.

- Raptor spun around in his chair, carefully placing Mjolnir into the stand he had fabricated for it. "Yes, I did." He said, reclining into his chair and brining his hands together. "I want you to deploy the Rare Hunters now. I can no longer bear this excruciatingly annoying wait, and I wish for the more interesting rounds to start." He sighed and placed a hand to his temple, as if thinking hard about something. "I want you to tell the Hunters not to bother collecting their opponent's rarest cards until I order them to; we have no use for those weakling cards." He didn't really want to send the dueling units out so early, but outside forces were causing him to think differently now. "Because, of course, we wouldn't want a large group of suspiciously strong duelists to be the topics of conversation amongst the city folk. Letting the grunts keep their cards would quell hard feelings against our special units."

- The advisory executive routinely replied to this by saying, "I agree one hundred percent. That is a smart move you're making Mr. Raptor. I'll see it through that the team is deployed." He gave a slight bow and started out the door, his assistant following him.

- "Riley," The Head of RexCorps called out. The advisory executive turned around. "Yes sir?" He replied. Raptor rubbed his temples some more. "Once you're done with that, can you get me a coffee please?" He said with an exasperated sigh. Riley nodded and continued out the door.

- A voice resonated from Mjolnir into Raptor's mind. It was a dark voice and somewhat raspy as if the owner was attempting an impersonation of a snake and failing. **:Don't fret, Rex. No one will suspect you at all, or your company. You can trust me Rex.: **Said the voice. Rex tilted his head back and closed his eyes. He thought back at the Pewter hammer, _I do trust you, it's just…_ He hesitated a moment, _It's just I feel a little bit weird right now, plus I didn't want to send out the hunters so early in the first place so I'm just a bit disoriented that's all. _Mjolnir then replied **:Just relax and enjoy the show, isn't that what this whole tournament is about? Enjoyment? Just relax.: **A smile tugged at Rex's mouth, he said aloud, "Yeah, relax and enjoy…"


	7. Chapter 5: Rock Hard

You may or may not have noticed that I have an unfinished Zatch Bell fic hangin' out there, that's because I was in the middle of writing that story, and I had the idea for this story and so I just _had_ to start writing this one. But it's happening again! I have such a good idea for a story and I wanna start it, but I really wanna keep this one going, so excuse me if this chapter or the next few are a little "bleah." It may or may not be like that, but still my motivation for this one is "bleah" if you know what I mean. But I'm tryin'!

Edit – oops, you may have been wondering at one point why Luther was telling his opponent his face down cards **:disgruntled:** I didn't mean to do that, those are just notes for me that I forgot to erase, **:fixes:**

Post-Writing Note – It's very very long, this time because I decided not to break up the battle that takes place and kept it going all the way through. My head really hurts right now. Anyways, funny story, I started this chapter on Halloween, I'm sure on top of things aren't I?

Here's chapter 5!

-----!

- Anthony Coram and Alicia Abbott are not lovebirds. They are actually really close friends since they were 4. They are both 17 now, going into their senior year of high school, and contrary to fact, they really do seem to be an item.

- They were just finishing off an informal date to the pizza place, where they were now on first name-basis with the workers, and were waltzing out together, arm in arm, sharing a large soda. It had been a splendid date and they had a lot of fun. Forgetting how the date went so far, let's move on to the future and say that the mood is just about to be killed. Oh well.

- Luther and Rex were having a heated discussion about the correct dueling stances and gestures. Luther went on, "But why would you throw your hand that far out when you draw a card? Anyone could see it!" He protested.

- Rex argued back, "It's to add dramatic effect to it, without the dramatic effect, duels are so dry." He spat on the sidewalk and stepped on it as if making a statement of some sort. Although, Rex and Luther didn't notice their presence at the time, Anthony and Alicia were friends of theirs.

- As they passed by the pizza place, still leaving the couple unnoticed, Anthony chimed into the conversation. "Hey guys, what's all this about?" He and Alicia walked over to the duelists who stopped in their tracks and turned around. "I should've known you two would have entered the Battle City Tournament."

- Rex smirked and replied, "Entering is no accomplishment, one of us are gunna win it!" He clapped his hand on Luther's shoulder.

- Anthony laughed, "You think so? I'd like to see it happen." He turned to Alicia and kissed her on the cheek, which was no uncommon sight. "Hey, we were about to go get some ice cream, you guys wanna come with? The more the merrier!" He then offered.

- Rex took the offer, "Yeah, I'm actually kinda hungry after all that excitement, whaduya say Luth? You comin'?" He jumped over to Anthony and Alicia's side.

- Luther shook his head, "No, that's ok. I think I just want to walk around the city a bit, who knows? I might find a challenge out there somewhere." He shrugged.

- "Ya sure? Alright, well I'm going anyways, as long as these two don't go all smoochy along the way." Rex said jabbing a finger towards the anti-couple. The two immediately disconnected from each other.

- "Shut up, it's not like we're dating or anything!" Anthony retorted defensively. Rex rolled his eyes and sarcastically commented as they all walked off. Luther chuckled and headed in the other direction.

- _Grumble_ went Luther's stomach after a good five minutes of walking. All that talk about food reminded Luther that it _was_ around lunch time and that he hadn't eaten since last night. So, without further consideration, Luther took a detour to the closest fast food restaurant. …Which turned out to be filled with spectators and duelists alike with a line exceeding the door. Too famished to wait, Luther tried yet another fast food place, which was also full to the brim. Luther sighed in exasperation. He could always go home and fix a sandwich. So he headed in that direction.

- Luther took the fastest route home, which involved winding and weaving through alleyways and deserted streets. Luther took a mental note that these would be ideal places to duel unnoticed shaking off the pressure of an audience and such. And when he rounded a corner, he found that someone was one step ahead of him.

- Just as Luther took the corner, he saw the last move of a sad battle. An older looking guy wearing a black cloak was mopping the floor with a distraught looking kid. The man was the typical mysterious stranger, the hood covering his face, and most importantly, shadowing his eyes. He controlled a monster Luther couldn't identify but was definitely very powerful and was attacking the young kid's monster. The kid's final life points were drained and the score was displayed, 5000 to zero, a total wipeout.

- Luther watched from behind the building on the corner as the opponents approached one another, he had to strain to hear but he listened to what they said.

- The voice that was presumably the mysterious man's said, "Gimme that." In a very commanding tone and he ripped the Locator Card from the kid's neck. The kid flinched and started rummaging through his deck fervently. The man then said, "Keep your card; I've no use for such a weak monster. Now buzz off!" The kid obliged without a word, running out of the alley, not noticing Luther as he passed by and disappeared. Luther looked after the hooded figure, which turned around and walked into the shadows. At that moment, Luther saw something on the duelist's back that made him jump. It was a cobalt design of an eye. Luther had seen this design before, _on Hamingja_. Domar interrupted Luther's scrutiny without warning, ((**So what do you think?**)) He asked. Luther didn't really know what to think, seeing Odin's Eye on something other than his puzzle came as quite a shock. After a second of consideration, Luther then said to his partner, ((I'm following him.)) Domar didn't respond, so Luther started his pursuing.

- He followed the dark figure into the shadows, around more corners and alleyways. He followed the man for about five minutes and almost lost him once or twice, until finally they reached some form of a destination. The man had approached the side entrance to an old run-down warehouse. The door had a sign above it that said "RexCorps" the name of Rex's dad's company. Accounting for the condition of the warehouse, though, Luther assumed that it hadn't been used in a long time so he made nothing of the sign. Instead of entering the warehouse however, the shady man simply placed the Locator Card he had just received into a mailbox that was bolted onto the wall next to the door, and walked back towards Luther.

- His heart racing, Luther dashed behind a dumpster that was on the verge of disintegration. And pulled an unfortunately wet cardboard box in front of him. Luckily, he finished this move just before the mystery man glided ominously right by. When he took the next corner, Luther kicked away the corrugated cardboard and continued his chase. ((Who is this guy? And how does he connect to you?)) Luther said to Domar who replied, ((**I cannot think of anything resembling the shade, but I don't think he is here for good intentions.**)) ((You think?)) Luther said sarcastically. Domar didn't respond again.

- He chased down the alley and took the same corner as the "Shade" as Domar put it. The left turn emptied out into the normal, populated street. He had lost the cloaked man now. Pedestrians obstructing his view, Luther couldn't find him. So he had a 50/50 choice, either going Left or Right down the street. He chose Right. After a good deal of walking and searching, he knew that all was lost, until he heard a commotion. Looking for the source he finally located his prey. The shade was talking to yet another kid wearing a duel disk. The kid was sitting on a stoop and yelling at the man.

- "No way! I already battled one of you, you ruthless jerks!" He bellowed. _One of you?_ Luther thought, _There's more of them?_ The man then grabbed the kid's arm and said, "C'mon kid, I'll make you an offer you can't refuse."

- Luther intruded on the confrontation. "Didn't you hear him?" He said angrily at the shade. "He doesn't want to battle and you can't make him." He narrowed his eyes at the plainly evil character.

- The shade made a growling kind of noise and left the scene sweeping his trailing cloak as he turned around and swiftly disappeared. Luther glared at him until he was out of sight and then looked at the kid. He was about to ask him about the cloaked man, but was cut off. "I didn't need any help!" He said angrily.

- The kid was short and looked to be around eleven or twelve. He had messy brown hair that pointed out in random directions and the same color eyes. Luther walked over to him. "I'm sorry; I just thought that maybe you could use some help. I didn't mean to anger you or anything."

- A sigh escaped from the kid's mouth. "No, I should be sorry; I had no reason to snap at you like that. It's just I'm not in such a great mood right now. I lost my favorite card to one of those cloaked guys, and can you believe it? Another one comes up to me right after and asks me to duel." He shook his head, "I was demolished by that first one, I don't even feel like being part of this tournament anymore."

- Luther frowned, "Now, hey, don't be like that." He said encouragingly. "So you lost a battle, no big deal. You can hop back in just like that." He wondered how good of a duelist the messy haired kid was.

- The kid then looked up at him, "Actually, despite what I said before, I'd like to thank you for helping me out there. Is there any way I can repay you?" He asked.

- Luther thought about this for a moment and smiled as a beyond excellent idea came to him. "Yes there is." He said, "You can continue with this tournament, because no one should beat themselves over a loss like that." The kid looked up and smiled. Luther continued, "And I can be your next battle! I haven't battled anyone so far, and it looks like you've already had a few battles." He toyed with a rock on the ground with his foot.

- The kid stood up and faced Luther. "My name's Skyler Winger and I'd love to have one more battle. If I win, I'll stay in the tournament, but if I lose," He acknowledged the one and only Locator Card he possessed, "Well, then it looks like I'm out."

- Luther stuck out a hand and helped Skyler off the stoop. "Luther Jacobs; and you've got yourself a challenge, Skyler."

- Skyler looked surprised, "You mean like 'Mr. Jacob's Game Shop' Jacobs?" He asked. Luther nodded and told him that Mr. Jacobs was his grandfather. "Wow cool, lucky you, having a game shop owner as your grandfather, you must reel in all the good cards."

- Luther disagreed, "My cards are probably no better than yours are, Skyler, and if I know anything about Duel Monsters an overpowered deck is not a balanced one." He shrugged.

- A simper played on Skyler's mouth, "I like you Luther, oh, and call me Sky."

- They mutually decided that they wanted to try out dueling in the deserted streets and alleyways since neither of them were really in the mood for so much attention. The walk gave Luther some time to question Sky about the shades. "So you said you already dueled one of those cloaked men?" He asked rhetorically. "Any idea who they are?" Was his actual question.

- Sky shook his head, "No, all I can tell you is that they are awfully tough; practically impossible to beat." His eyebrows frowned as he continued, "I was only able to destroy one of his monsters. He beat me of course, 4600 to 0." Luther opened his mouth to say something but Skyler continued. "One of my friends battled one today. He was obliterated like me, but for some reason, the man didn't take his rare card. So when the cloaked man asked to duel me, I thought 'What do I have to loose? One of my Locator Cards, no biggie.' But then when he beat me, he took my card too, there was nothing I could do to stop him either, considering it _is_ in the rules and all." He sighed, finished with his monologue.

- Luther didn't say anything, his question was sort of answered anyways, and they were nearing their battle site. Their place of combat was in a wide street in a deserted part of town. Newspapers and other litter tumbled by in the tufts of wind that bombarded them. Buildings all around them were boarded up and decorated with caution tape. The whole place looked generally gray, even as the sky started to close up itself. The blame for why this place was so desolate can be pointed to a flood that happened over 10 years ago.

- The reached an ideal place to set up and shook hands showing their sportsmanship. "I hope you give it your all." Said Luther, "Otherwise you wouldn't be paying me back."

- Sky gave a smirk. "Don't worry, I plan to." He replied, and they took their places on either side of the street. Instinctively, they said, "Let's Duel!" and drew five cards. Sky took the first turn. "Ok then, first, I will summon the card I just drew Avatar of the Pot." Placing the card on his Duel Disk, Sky relished the moment as his monster appeared on his side of the field. Avatar of the Pot we can safely label as a strange monster. Its muscular green body, made decent by a carpet loincloth, was topped with a very familiar image. The head of the humanoid was derived from the card "Pot of Greed."

Avatar of the Pot_ Attack_

Atk 1200; Def 1300

- Luther had to bite his tongue from laughing at the strange sight, Skyler noticed this. "Sure you're laughing now, but its special ability is no laughing matter." He picked a card from his hand and showed it to Luther. It was Pot of Greed. "See this card?" he continued, "I can discard this from my hand to activate Avatar's special ability, which now lets me draw 3 cards." Luther's laughing died down as Sky did so. "Now I will activate the spell card Gaia Power. It's a field spell card that adds 500 attack points to any Earth monster on the field. You will find soon enough that this card is very useful to me." In a dazzling display of holographics, large trees burst from the solid concrete beneath them and invisible power was transferred to Avatar of the Pot.

Avatar of the Pot _Attack_

Atk **1700**; Def **800**

(Gaia Power)

- "And I will also throw down a face down card to finish my turn." The face down card glimmered onto the field. Sky smiled and said with a hint of sarcasm in his tone, "Don't get too overwhelmed."

- Luther said nothing but drew a card and examined his hand. He had nothing so far that would be of much use, but he was able to protect his life points with a monster placed in defense position. "I'll summon Earthbound Spirit in defense position. And that's all."

Earthbound Spirit _Defense_

Atk **1000**; Def **1600**

(Gaia Power)

- "Wait a minute!" Luther protested, "My monster's supposed to have a defense of 2000!"

- "For someone who lives in a game shop I though you would have know better Luther." Skyler said cockily as he drew his next card. "As well as boosting an Earth monster's attack, it also lowers their defense by 400. Thought you could save your skin with an Earth monster? Well think again. Go Avatar of the Pot, attack Earthbound Spirit!" And with a well aimed punch, Earthbound Spirit shattered into many pieces of holographic data. "Also, I will activate my trap card Rock Bombardment. This card allows me to send a rock-type monster in my deck to the graveyard to inflict 500 points of direct damage to your life points. And I'm sure Dissolverock will do the trick." Having already sifted through his deck and placing the card in the graveyard, a considerably sized boulder was hurled out of the now face up trap card toward Luther, who flinched as it passed right through him.

**Life Points**

Luther Jacobs – 4500

Skyler Winger – 5000

- "Now come on Luther," beckoned Sky, "You made yourself out tougher than you're displaying now, how about you try harder, for my sake?" He chuckled and then ended his turn.

- Luther wasn't too fond of Sky's new attitude and now had the urge to put him in his place. "Well, if you say so," Luther said, "But remember, you asked for it." He drew a card and continued with his turn. "First off, I'll place The Thing in the Crater in defense position and proceed to place two more cards on the field face-down. Then I will use the power of the spell card Double Spell which, if I discard a magic card from my hand, lets me use a spell card from your graveyard. And since the only spell card in your graveyard is Pot of Greed that will have to suffice." The too familiar card appeared on his side on the field and granted him the ability to draw 2 more cards. "Finally," he continued, "I'll use De-Spell to deactivate Gaia Power, which signals the end of my turn." L2

The Thing in the Crater _Defense_

Atk 1000; Def 1200

Avatar of the Pot _Attack_

Atk 1200; Def 1300

- Sky pouted, "Aw man, that card helps me out so much! Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk, I'll just have to clean it up." He said and drew his next card 7. "For my next turn, I'll sacrifice Avatar of the Pot to summon Stone Ogre Grotto."

Stone Ogre Grotto _Attack_

Atk 1600; Def 1500

- "My next move will be to attack your monster. Go Stone Ogre Grotto!" But before the brute could start its attack on The Thing in the Crater Luther activated a trap.

- "Wait a second; I'll activate Destruction Punch, one of my face down cards. This card will destroy any of your attacking monsters whose Attack is less than the Defense of my attacked Defense Position monster." He beamed at his move.

- Sky cocked an eyebrow and smirked, "Misplaying a card now? Get your head in the game Luther! Stone Ogre Grotto's Attack is by far higher than your monster's Defense."

- "Ah, but you forget my other face-down card," Luther rebounded, "Which just so happens to be Castle Walls, I'm sure you know what that does." He said happily. For the record, Castle Walls adds 500 Defense to any monster on the field. Luther chose The Thing in the Crater.

The Thing in the Crater _Defense_

Atk 1000; Def **1700**

(Castle Walls)

- Stone Ogre Grotto continued with its assault on Luther's monster. This resulted in the destruction of Stone Ogre Grotto and Skyler taking 100 points of damage to his Life Points.

**Life Points**

Luther Jacobs – 4500

Skyler Winger – 4900

- With nothing more to do, Sky ended his turn, sending Luther into his. "Before you object towards my next move," Luther said after drawing a card, a grin playing on his face, "Wait and see." He placed a card on the field, "I'll start by activating the magic card Dark Hole!" Confused, Sky opened his mouth to say something, but Luther stopped him. "Yes, of course you don't have any monsters on the field, but I do." The space-like vacuum stole The Thing in the Crater from the field. "But due to its special ability, when it's destroyed, I can Special Summon a pyro monster to the field. And the monster I choose is Mr. Volcano!" A monster appeared on the field in a flash of fantastic holographic light. It resembled a human with wispy red hair, fiery crimson eyes, and an emerald green cape. Fire burst from his hands at random moments. "But that's not all," Luther continued. "Since that was a Special Summon, I can also summon another monster to the field, and I'll summon Darkfire Soldier #2!" The following monster was indeed intimidating. Looking not entirely unlike a samurai whose garments are entirely engulfed in flames.

Mr. Volcano_ Attack_

Atk 2100; Def 1300

Darkfire Soldier #2_ Attack_

Atk 1700; Def 1100

- Skyler grimaced; he knew what was coming next. "And in a spectacular display of fireworks, it's time to witness your downfall." Luther sounded like the ringmaster of a circus. Then he called out the attack, "Go, Mr. Volcano and Darkfire Soldier, Dual Flame Blitz!" Almost immediately, the two pyro monsters lashed at Skyler, taking his life points down a considerable amount.

**Life Points**

Luther Jacobs – 4500

Skyler Winger – 1100

- Impressive as the blow was, Skyler wasn't as disappointed at the attack than Luther thought he might be, but then again, with all the cards he had in his hands it wouldn't be surprising if he had a good move in mind. Luther, on the other hand had not one card to hold on to. But with the two monsters he had on the field he wasn't too worried. Sky then made his next move. "Alright, first, I'll play Destroyer Golem in attack position."

Destroyer Golem_ Attack_

Atk 1500; Def 1000

- "Also, I will equip my Golem with Megamorph, a spectacular card which doubles my monster's attack when my life points are lower than yours." The rune that was displayed on the Megamorph card was embedded into Destroyer Golem's forehead and mystically powered it up.

Destroyer Golem_ Attack_

Atk **3000**; Def 1000

((Megamorph))

- "That's not all though, I'll also play the ritual magic card Earth Chant which-" He started to explain but Luther cut him off.

- "Which lets you ritual summon an Earth monster, I know, I have that card too somewhere in my deck, useless to me now but I know what it does." He grinned, waiting to see what monster Sky was going to conjure.

- "Very well, I discard this monster in my hand to Ritual Summon Rock Ogre Grotto #1!" A rift in the street below their feet gaped like the jaws of a hungry predator, and from it raised a monster made of all rock, much like Stone Ogre Grotto, but a lot less professional looking.

Rock Ogre Grotto #1_ Defense_

Atk 800; Def 1200

- Disappointed, Luther sunk his head; he was expecting to see something really cool but was only greeted with this pitiful thing. "What? That's it?" Luther asked, clearly let down.

- Skyler simply smirked and said, "There's a method to my madness, but for now, go Destroyer Golem! Attack Mr. Volcano!" And before Luther knew, the giant hunk of animated rock lunged forward and destroyed Mr. Volcano.

**Life Points**

Luther Jacobs – 3600

Skyler Winger – 1100

- And with that little display of brute force, Sky ended his turn. Since he had no other cards in his hand Luther hoped and prayed that the next card he drew was a useful one. When he did take this action to start his move off, lo and behold, a useful card was drawn. He announced the playing of the card face down and he continued onto his battle stage. "I'm still baffled as to what you were trying to accomplish by placing Rock Ogre Grotto onto the field, but it's not going to help you much anymore. Go ahead, Darkfire Soldier, take out that hunk of useless rock." With nothing in its way to prevent the attack, the flame-engulfed Samurai took the opportunity to strike the target, which was incidentally incinerated by the fiery blow. "And that's the end of my turn." He concluded.

- Skyler let out a short laugh as his monster was destroyed. "You'll see what I have in store soon enough," he drew a card, subsequently useless to him, "But for now, I'll attack your last remaining monster with Destroyer Golem."

- "The heck you will!" Shouted Luther and he activated his face down card, "Say hello to Mirror Force, I'm sure you know what that does." The brick-laden figure clashed against the near-invisible barrier and shattered instantly. Luther lifted his chin up in a smug sort of manner, but Sky let another laugh escape from his mouth that was enough to erase Luther's visage.

- "Well now, it's time for you to take a peek backstage and reveal the plan I've been building up for quite some time now." He removed a number of cards from his graveyard, "See these? These are all the monsters that you destroyed this entire battle, have you noticed something special about them? If not, I'll let you know that they are all Rock types. Now watch them all come back to haunt you when I play this next card."

- Sky took the cards he held and placed them into the pocket on the Duel Disk that meant the cards were removed from play. He narrated his turn, "By removing any number of Rock cards in my graveyard from play, I can special summon the almighty Megarock Dragon whose original attack and defense become the number of rock monsters I removed from play to summon him multiplied by 700. And since I removed 5 monsters from play my Megarock Dragon's attack and defense become 3500!"

Megarock Dragon _Attack_

Atk 3500; Def 3500

- All the while, the giant monster shimmered onto the field and gathered its strength from the sacrificed monsters. Now when I say big, that's an understatement, but this dragon was **_Big_**. In fact, it was so big it couldn't fit on the duel field and had to take homage behind Skyler, towering above both him and Luther, not to mention the real entity in danger, Darkfire Soldier. Skyler continued his narration, "Unfortunately though, my battle phase has already passed, so you'll have to wait one turn to witness the power of this monster. Hope that's not too long for you."

- Luther risked a gulp. He was stunned stiff in front of the monstrosity, and it wasn't until Skyler interrogated his paralysis did he start to make his next move. He drew a card and was thankful to see a green face on the next card. "Alright then, for my next turn I'll play a card we both know too well, Pot of Greed." He noticed Sky roll his eyes, but ignored it. The next two cards he drew would decide the battle. Driving his soul through the deck on his duel disk, he willed the cards he needed to be there for him and then satisfied Pot of Greed's effect. "And to end my turn, I'll place Darkfire Soldier in defense mode."

Darkfire Soldier #1_ Defense_

Atk 1700; Def 1100

- A grin played on Skyler's face when he drew his next card, "I hate to disappoint you, but to my pleasure I seem to have drawn a card that will render your defense position monster useless." He placed a magic card on the field, right under Megarock Dragon, "I'm sure Megarock Dragon will welcome this equip card to the field with open arms. The card is Big Bang Shot which, firstly, increases my monster's attack by 400, but more importantly has an additional effect."

Megarock Dragon_ Attack_

Atk **3900**; Def 3500

((Big Bang Shot))

- "And I'll show you that special effect by attacking your Darkfire Soldier." With a loud roar that seemed to make the buildings around them waver from sonic shock, the earthly dragon started its attack. Its eyes glowed red with the power from Big Bang Shot as it grabbed Darkfire Soldier in the strong bone structures also know as its jaws and clamped down. In a terrific light show, the samurai exploded into tiny bits of holographic information. But something in the air made the attack not seem finished. All of a sudden, Luther felt the indescribable feeling of one's Life Points draining. He watched as the number on his Duel Disk fell from 3600 to 800. He staggered back a bit then glared at Skyler, "What just happened?" He asked simply.

- Sky nodded, "Nothing but the effect of Big Bang Shot, which, when I attack your defense position monsters, deals battle damage equal to the difference of my attack with your defense. That was all. Oh and of course, my turn is finished. Not that you can save yourself on your next turn; there is no possible monster you can summon more powerful than my Megarock Dragon."

- Sky was right, unfortunately, there wasn't a monster in Luther's _entire deck_ that could subdue the Megarock Dragon. But upon drawing his next card, Luther did find another way around that obstacle. "There is nothing I can do besides placing these three cards face down." was all he said during his turn. And all three cards in his hand were placed on the field.

- "What is this last ditch effort? You won't have any time to play those cards once I enter my battle phase, which I'll go into right after my draw phase." Sky said and intimidatingly drew his next card. "Alright then, go Megarock Dragon; attack his Life Points directly!" He said with a malicious grin.

- Luther held up a hand and one of his face down cards rose into the air. On it displayed a group of women. Luther didn't say a word; Waboku was a well known card and didn't need explaining, though for clarification, it turned any damage to 0 during the turn activated. Skyler sneered and said something about a "cheap card." He reluctantly passed his turn to Luther.

- "You're done." Luther said to his opponent, and activated the next of his face down cards, "This is Ring of Destruction, which destroys your precious Megarock Dragon and inflicts its attack power as battle damage to both of us.

- "But that'll result in a draw!" Skyler incredulously stated.

- Luther smiled weakly, "Not unless I play this card." The last face down card flipped up, showing a golden gun positioned behind a wooden door. "Barrel Behind the Door takes any damage that isn't Battle Damage I would take a rebounds it to you, leaving me unscathed."

- In a spectacular chain reaction the following events happened. Megarock Dragon writhed and shook about as the Ring of Destruction bound around its neck and eventually exploded, taking the rocky reptile with it. Two strands of energy flowed from the spot where it had once stood and shot towards Luther and Sky, Luther's energy beam was absorbed by the gun that was now positioned in front of him and immediately shot it right back out at Sky. Skyler's expression was of great fear and disbelief when the two bolts hit him and sucked out the rest of his life points.

**Life Points**

Luther Jacobs – 800

Skyler Winger – 0

- And so, the battle was over, leaving the two combatants alone in the street. We'll return to them later.

-----!

- Rex Raptor Senior drained the last of his coffee as if it were his first coffee in over a year. He smacked his lips and sighed in delight. Nothing could make his mood any better as of now, but it certainly vulnerable to wane. And he had a feeling it might when his advisory executive asked to enter his office warily. "What is it Riley?" Raptor asked.

- Riley gulped and unwillingly told his boss the news. "Well, it seems that some of the Rare Hunters decided to neglect your orders not to collect the first round's rare cards and took them for their personal gain." He walked over to the window and peered out at the streets.

- Raptor sighed exasperatingly and thought to Mjolnir _See what's happening because of your decision?_ The large mallet thought back at him, **_Well, call the disobeyers in and I'll deal with them personally_**. Raptor reclined in his executive chair and told Riley to bring the Rare Hunters to him, all the while wishing he had another coffee.


End file.
